


The Weather Outside is Frightful

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Married Couple, Snow Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22129117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: There are many ways to spend a snowy day. Some are more fun than others.
Relationships: Edér Teylecg/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	The Weather Outside is Frightful

**Author's Note:**

> Some self-indulgent as all hell,‘because I can’ Ederity fluff, initially prompted by an 'imagine your OTP' post on tumblr, but it, uh, GREW. I regret nothing. Oh, and I sort of borrowed a friend's OCs for a mention. Merry Christmas! :D

There were few things that could change your plans for the day quite like waking up to discover three foot deep snow drifts outside your window.

“Well,” Edér chuckled as he wiped a clear spot where his breath had fogged the glass, “guess I’m not makin’ it into town today...”

Charity tucked herself under his arm and whistled at the sheer _white_ of the scene outside the window. “An’ I thought Peycg was jokin’ about her achy hip meanin’ this’d be a bad one.” She wrapped an arm around his waist. “Pretty sure Dyrford can get along without its mayor for _one day_.”

“Y’think?” he asked, pressing an amused kiss to the top of her head.

“Yeah. An’ all your paperwork will keep,” she said matter-of-factly. “You know a great way to spend snowy days?” Her fingers slipped under his shirt to trace light circles against his skin.

Edér’s breath caught even as he grinned. “Shovelin’ ?”

Charity rolled her eyes. “I mean, if you’d rather do that than cuddle your wife, sure.”

“Ah, well, if _that’s_ an option on the table,”he kissed her temple, “it sounds much more fun.”

Even as she opened her mouth to reply with something flirty, a realization struck Charity and she instead buried her face in his chest with a groan. “Actually... that’ll hafta wait. I promised Bethyn I’d come check on Gjeorun today; his fever’s been stubborn-”

“Char, that snow’ll be hip deep on you,” Edér protested. “Higher where it’s drifts.”

“And? I’m not breakin’ a promise to check on a sick kid, Edér. Not for somethin’ that’s at most an inconvenience.”

“I’ll go,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose before he stepped away to start getting dressed. “Pretty sure I can at least tell a fever as well as you can.”

She thought about protesting, but it really would be an easier trek for him, and they weren’t yet to the point where treatment options would be complicated, and he had that look in his eye saying he was ready to be stubborn about this. “Ain’t gonna argue myself out of gettin’ to stay in the nice, warm house,” she said with a playful shrug.

Edér paused in pulling on his boots. “On second thought...” he teased.

“No, no, you volunteered already,” Charity laughed. She crossed her arms and pulled out her best look of mock-censure. “How will the people of Dyrford trust you if you don’t keep your promises, Mayor Teylecg?”

“That’s fightin’ _dirty_ , darlin’,” he complained, throwing a balled up sock at her.

She caught it and threw it back. “I think you’re gonna need that, don’t you?”

Edér shook his head before pulling on the sock and the boot that went with it. “Fightin’ _real_ dirty, Char.”

“I learned from the best,” Charity said sweetly. She plunked down on the bed next to him. “In all seriousness, though, I do appreciate this.” She kissed his cheek. “An’ I know Bethyn will, too. Oh!” She pushed back to her feet. “If you’re goin’ I need to give this to you...” The small bottle was still sitting on the table from when she prepared it the day before. “It’s for if the fever’s not down,” she explained, pressing it into Edér’s hand. “Slightly stronger combination of herbs than what Bethyn’s been usin’ so far. Hopefully his fever broke on its on, but if she needs it...”

“Better I don’t need to make two trips,” Edér finished for her. He slipped the bottle in the pocket of his coat and kissed her on the nose again. “Stay warm.”

“I think that’s more of a concern for you,” Charity said wryly as she retrieved his hat and scarf from the mudroom. She made sure to tug the hat all the way down over his ears. “Given that you’re gonna be wadin’ through snow an’ all.”

His eyes twinkled as he wrapped the scarf around his neck. “I’ll just think of you, it’ll keep me plenty warm.”

She rolled her eyes and whacked his arm. “You better get goin’, who knows how long it’ll take you to get there in _this_.” The Spackholms didn’t live that far, but wading through three feet of snow was going to slow him down. 

“Alright, I’m goin’,” Edér chuckled, stealing one last kiss before he set off.

Charity shivered in the brief whirl of cold air when he opened the door, but still stood by the window to watch until he’d disappeared from view. She really should start at the very least clearing out a path to the chapel. But even that small taste of the weather inclined her toward finding more indoor methods of filling her time. She shuffled back toward the bedroom, smiled at the sight of Sunshine and Sparrow curled up atop the blankets she and Edér had pushed aside when they rose.

“You two look comfortable,” she chuckled. Sparrow yawned and Sunshine’s tail wagged against the covers. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you move. Or share. I love ya, but the one I _really_ wanna snuggle just walked out the front door so I didn’t hafta.” She plunked on the edge of the bed and scratched Sunshine’s ears. “I should do somethin’ as a thank you, shouldn’t I?”

Sunshine let out a happy dog groan and leaned into her hand.

Charity laughed and scratched harder. “Is that a yes? Well, then, what should I do?”

He just wagged his tail again, letting his head sink to the covers, and Sparrow was so deep asleep her whiskers were twitching as she dreamed. Charity nibbled her lower lip in thought. It only took a moment to hit her. What would be a better reward for trudging through thigh-deep snow than to find hot cider and fresh-baked cookies when he got back? The weed in the flowerbed, of course, was her utter inability to cook. But surely there was _some_ cookie recipe in their possession easy enough even _she_ couldn’t mess it up. She knew they had ingredients aplenty; Edér made sure they were well-stocked by midway through Early Autumn.

“Baking’s different than cookin’, right?” she asked the snoozing animals. There was no reaction from either; Sunshine had drifted back off with the head scratches.

Charity smiled and pushed off the bed, tying her hair up in a messy bun as she headed toward the kitchen. It couldn’t hurt to try. After all, what was life without a little risk? Edér would probably tease turning her loose in the kitchen was more than a _little_ risk, but he wasn’t here to stop her. She started humming to herself and pulled the recipe box from the shelf, thumbing through in search of the desserts. Really, how hard could it be?

\---

An hour later, she was ready to eat those words, partially because she wasn’t sure if she or anyone else _could_ eat the lump of dough sitting in front of her. It was _supposed_ to turn into cinnamon-dusted cookies, but it didn’t taste quite right to her. 

Charity’s face screwed up in a frown and she tugged a lock of hair that had fallen loose during her travails. She wasn’t sure it was worth taking the time to bake these if it was only going to confirm her suspicions that she was no good at baking, either. On the other hand, if she wanted to have some done before Edér got back, she’d really need to get them in soon. Even as she stood there, torn, there was the dull thump of someone knocking snow off boots outside, which made Sunshine bark, and the door swung open.

“Started snowin’ again,” Edér called as he stepped inside and hastily shut the door behind him.

Charity leaned back around the doorframe and grinned. “I can see that. There’s snowflakes in your beard,” she informed him, “even if they weren’t all over your coat and such.” 

“Yeah, looks like it’s gonna be pretty decent, on top of what we already got.” He cocked his head as he stripped off his gloves. “Char, what’re you doin?”

She tried to look innocent, but was too close to laughing from his suspicious tone. “Baking. Or tryin’ to, I think I did it wrong...” On impulse, she scooped a fingerful of the questionable dough and crossed the living room. “Doesn’t taste quite right to me.”

Edér looked between her and the sample of cookie dough, clearly picking up the unspoken request. He smirked and leaned down to kiss her instead, fingertips briefly cold against the back of her neck, lips freezing against hers. “Perfect,” he chuckled, cleaning a smudge of something(probably flour) off her cheek with the side of his thumb. “An’ now if I die” --a nod toward the dough-- “least I got t’ kiss my wife one last time.”

“Too many of those jokes and maybe you will,” Charity grumped, but there was no real weight behind the threat.

Edér just grinned and took the dough. “You’re just a little shy on sugar, Char,” he informed her after tasting it. “These are th’ cinnamon dusted ones Gjyra makes?” When she nodded, he shrugged. “Just add some sugar in with the cinnamon when you’re dustin’ ‘em and it’ll be fine.”

She brightened. “Y’ mean I actually made somethin’ edible?”

He laughed as he tugged off his hat and unwound his scarf. “Only time--an’ the oven--will tell.”

“True,” she conceded with a wry laugh. “While I get the first batch in the oven, there’s cider warmin’ by the fire, an’ then I’ll join ya so we can get in some of that cuddlin’ we mentioned earlier while the cookies bake.”

“Sounds like a plan, darlin’,” Edér grinned, dropping his hat to slip his hands under the back of her shirt. “I need a lot of warmin’ up.”

Charity yelped at the shock of cold skin against hers and swatted his arm. “ _ **Edér-!**_ ” But she couldn’t resist giggling all the same, as she tugged him closer by the uneven pale blue scarf draped around his neck. “You owe me for that,” she whispered, before pushing up on her toes to kiss him. His lips were still cold, and there was melting snow in his beard and all over his coat, but she didn’t care.

He was grinning when she finally stepped back. “Only fair when you put your cold feet on me every night,” he murmured playfully, “But that seems a pretty good start.”

“Yep. A _start_ ,” Charity emphasized, patting his cheek and not even dignifying the other part with a response before she disentangled herself and headed back toward the kitchen. “Get outta your wet stuff, get some cider, and I’ll join ya in just a couple minutes.”

“Yes, dear,” he said mischievously, and she rolled her eyes but kept walking. The faster she had the cookies in the over, the faster she could join him. And on a cold snowy day like this, few things sounded better than snuggling her human furnace of a husband. 

_Bet he didn’t even get cold on the way to Bethyn’s_ , she thought as she started dropping cookie-sized lumps of dough on a baking sheet. Which brought another thought to mind. “How’s Gjeorun doing?” she called out as she worked.

Edér grunted, probably pulling off his boots, before he replied, “Fever broke last night just ‘fore he went t’ sleep. I left the medicine anyway; ‘case it comes back or one of the girls gets it.”

Charity winced. “Good idea, but hope not. They have a separate room, an’ Bethyn and Dannith have been good about keepin’ them away while Gjeorun’s been sick.”

“Yeah, but you know how Ilaine loves her brother...” Edér pointed out. There was the clink of ladle against mug, then the couch creaked.

“We’re gonna be optimists about this,” Charity retorted as she slid the cookies in the oven. “Or at least I am,” she said ruefully as she joined him. “Thank you for goin’.”

“You’re welcome,” Edér said easily, holding one arm out so she could join him.

Which Charity was all too happy to do. She snuggled in next to him. “Gods, Edér, how are you so blazin’ warm?!”

“Not all of me’s warm,” he countered mischievously, running chilly fingers down her arm and under the hem of her shirt(again).

Goosebumps prickled up her spine and she grabbed his hand to sandwich between her own. “I think this’ll work better.”

“Less fun, though,” he teased, brushing his lips against her temple.

She snorted. “For you, maybe. Don’t let me forget about the cookies. Wouldn’t wanna burn what might be my first success story where food’s concerned.”

“Cross m’ heart.” He went to kiss her temple again, but Charity tipped her chin up to catch it on the lips instead. Edér chuckled. “I was workin’ that direction, darlin’.”

“Not fast enough, you weren’t,” she mock-grumbled. 

He grinned. “I can fix that...” He tugged his hand free of hers and instead curved it along her jaw as he kissed her properly.

“Much better,” Charity murmured when they parted. She snuggled in closer against his chest, tucking her head under his chin.

Edér chuckled and pressed a kiss to her hair as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and settled in as well. “Glad you approve.”

She just hummed happily. This was the way to spend cold winter days, she mused. It could snow as deep as it liked outside; she was perfectly happy right where she was.

Even when they forgot about the cookies.

(The second batch turned out just fine.)


End file.
